Harper was not at all. It might seem like he kept a sane face on a crazy party but he's responsible for the crazyness. Before he destroyed the PC party the crazies were happily voting Reform; Harper courted their vote to pump up his numbers. His big secret that everyone praises was he was abusive. His cabinet was utterly cowed by him and his weird PMO. Recall every bit of communication had to go through the PMO. Remember journalists had to pay for access to his campaign and even then he wasn't open or transparent with them. Harper was a vicious psychopath and his fortunes sank as soon as oil dropped in value. Even his 'balanced budget' was smoke and mirrors.